President Obama was out front, weeks ago, with his NCAA bracket picks, but he's been nuanced about the goal of the airstrikes in Libya.

And in recent weeks he's been very low-key on top national priorities like social security, the budget and energy policy.

Critics on the left and the right are wondering, where is the president? Where do his priorities really lie? Is it with winning the vote or leading the nation? Is this president foundering, or is her playing a very deft hand?

This hour On Point: The president's leadership in tough times.- Bob Oakes

Guests:

Matt Yglesias, fellow at the Center for American Progress Action Fund. He blogs at the site ThinkProgress.

David Gergen, senior political analyst for CNN and professor of public service at the Harvard Kennedy School and the director of its Center for Public Leadership. He has served as an adviser to Presidents Reagan, Nixon, Ford and Clinton.